Parking meters



Dec. 10, 1957 H. c. WALDMAN 1 PARKING METERS Filed April 28, 1954 2 SheetsfiSheet l INVENTOR. Herman CMJdman Atty.

Dec. 10, 1957 H. c. WALDMAN PARKING METERS 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed April 28. 1954 7 2 1 HI. I m \n Mm I N 7 1 5 I. l m 1M an I mT s ll: fi

' INVEVTOR. Herman CMaJdman BY Atty.

United States Patent D PARKING METERS Herman C. Waldman, University City, Mo. Application April 28, 1954, Serial No. 426,115

Claims. (Cl. 194-1) The present invention relates to new and useful improvements in parking meters and, more particularly, to a parking meter which is reset to its Zero position after each use even if the parking time has not completely expired.

Most large municipalities at the present time employ parking meters at curbside parking places and in municipal parking areas in order to prevent abuse of parking privileges and to provide revenue. However, vehicles parked in such areas controlled by conventional parking meters will often leave the area before the expiration of the parking period. Other vehicles may then enter the parking area and remain therein during the unconsumed time without requiring the deposit of an additional coin in the meter, with the result that revenue is lost to the municipality. Many devices have been proposed to overcome this difiiculty, but, so far as I am aware, they all require complicated re-installation problems, such as discarding existing types of meters and even extensive digging up of the pavement.

it is, therefore, the primary object of the present invention to provide means for re-setting the pointer of the meter to zero when a parked vehicle leaves the parking area controlled by the meter even though the vehicle has not used its entire metered time.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a device of the type stated which can be economically and simply installed without tearing up adjacent pavement areas and can even be very quickly applied to most existing types of marking meters without requiring major mechanical reconstruction.

A still further object is to provide a device of the character stated which is simple and practical in construction, etficient and reliable in use, relatively inexpensive to manufacture, and otherwise well adapted for the purposes for which the same is intended.

With the above and other objects in view, my invention resides in the novel features of form, construction, arrangement, and combination of parts presently described and :pointed out in the claims.

in the accompanying drawings- Figure l is a side elevational view of a conventional parking meter constructed in accordance with and embodying the present invention;

Figure 2 is a front elevational view of the meter;

Figure 3 is an enlarged side elevational view, partly broken away and in section, of the meter;

Figure 4 is an enlarged front elevational view of the meter;

Figure 5 is a fragmentary sectional view taken along line 5-5 of Figure 3;

Figure 6 is a perspective view of the coin-slot gate forming a part of the present invention; and

Figure 7 is a fragmentary sectional view taken along line 77 of Figure 3.

Broadiy speaking, the invention includes a provision of 'a meter-device operated by a chain, flexible cable, or

'imilar device which can be clipped or otherwise releas- 2,815,842 Patented Dec. 10, 1957 2 ably attached to any convenient projection on the parked vehicle and, when released, will trip the time-controlled mechanism of the meter to thus return the pointer to its zero setting.

Referring now in more detail and by reference characters to the drawings, which disclose a preferred embodiment of the present invention, A designates a parking meter including a tubular post 1 having a base flange 2 mounted in any conventional manner on a concrete curbing 3 adjacent the pavement of a street, highway, or parking area in which a vehicle B is parked, the latter being merely designated in partial outline by dotted lines in Figure 1.

Mounted on the upper end of the post 1 is a hollow box-like meter housing 4 having glass windows 5, 6, mounted in its front and rear walls 7, 8, respectively, and a coin-slot 9 mounted in one side wall 10. Rigidly mounted within the housing 4 is a conventional timecontrolled mechanism 11 adapted for indicating an unexpired lapse of time during which a motorist may leave his car parked in the parking area controlled by the meter. There are many types of such mechanisms and since the present invention is not primarily concerned with the timing mechanism per se such mechanism is not described herein in specific detail. It is sufficient for present purposes to note that practically all such devices commercially now in use include some kind of time signalling hand or semaphore and some form of internal pawl or lever which can be tripped to reset the timing device to zero. Accordingly, the time-controlled mechanism shown in external outline and generally designated by the reference numeral 11 includes a time-indicating hand 12 and an internal tripping lever 13, the latter being indicated schematically in dotted lines in Figures 3 and 4.

The hand 12 is pinned or otherwise rigidly mounted upon the forwardly projecting end of a shaft 14 which extends through the time-controlled mechanism 11 and projects rearwardly through the rear wall of the housing 4 and on its rearwardly projecting end is provided with a turning handle 15, so that when a coin is dropped into the timing mechanism, unlocking the latter in the usual manner, the turning handle 15 may be rotated to set the indicating hand 12 over to the full time period, from which point the timing mechanism will move it backwardly toward zero as time elapses. The indicating hand 12 is provided with two spaced parallel pointers 16, 16', which are located on opposite sides of an indicator scale 17 so as to be viewed through the glass windows 5, 6. Mounted upon the inner face of the side wall 10 on opposite sides of the coin-slot 9 are spaced parallel bars b which are vertically milled or slotted in their opposing side walls to provide vertical ways for slidably supporting a rectangular plate or coin-slot gate 18 having a slot 19 which is adapted for registration with the coin-slot 9 when the gate 18 is in upwardly shifted position, as shown in Figures 3 and 4, and, in its upper area is solid so as to block the coin-slot 9 when in downwardly shifted position. At its lower end, the gate 18 is provided with an inwardly oblique tab 20, which is, in turn, .at its lower end, bent sharply inwardly to provide a horizontal car 21 welded upon the top surface of a cross-arm 22. Fixed in and projecting vertically upwardly from the cross-arm 22 in spaced relation to the ear 21 is an actuating pin 23 which projects in any suitable manner freely into the interior of the time-controlled mechanism 11 for operative engagement with the tripping lever 13 when the cross-bar 22 is in upwardly shifted position, as shown in Figure 4.

The cross-bar 22 is rigidly mounted on the upper end of a vertical rod 24 which extends axially downwardly through the housing '4 and post 1 and is slidably supported in a vertical bearing sleeve 25. At its lower end the rod 24- is provided with a diametrally projecting pin 25 which is operatively engaged in a slot 27 formed in one end of a rocking arm 28, the latter being pivotally mounted on a horizontal pivot pin 29 fixed in a short tubular extension-fitting 30 mounted in and projecting radially outwardly from the post 1. At its outer end the extension-fitting St? is similarly fixed in a vertically disposed sleeve 31 closed at its lower end by a cap 32 and supported in outwardly spaced parallel relation upon the post 1 by means of clamping bands 33, all as best seen in Figure 1. At its upper end the sleeve 31 is bent upwardly and outwardly and flared to provide a goose-neck 34 having a downwardly and outwardly opening mouth 35. In the lower portion of its bend, the goose-neck 3 is provided with a hollow semi-circular enlargement 36 having a horizontal roller shaft 37 and being adapted for housing a roller 38. Trained over the roller 38 and extending axially through the gooseneck 34 and thence downwardly through the sleeve 31 is a length of flexible chain 39 provided at its lower end with a relatively heavy weight or bob 40 which normally rests against an outwardly projecting portion 41 of the rocking arm 23. At its outer end the chain 39 is provided with a pair of divergent links d2 which are respectively looped through the upper ends of U-shaped handles 43 forming a part of a spring clip 44. By manually pressing the handles 43 toward each other, the jaws of the spring clip 44 are spread apart to engage and clip onto any projecting portion of the vehicle B, such as the external rear vision mirror m. The spring clip 44, the handles 43, and preferably the link 42 and the adjacent portions of the chain 39 are rubber coated and the marginal edges of the spring clip 44 are rounded to prevent scratching and damaging the vehicle B. When not clipped to a vehicle B, the chain 39 will be pulled inwardly into the sleeve 31 and goose-neck 34 so that the spring clip 44 will be almost entirely housed within the lower open end of the goose-neck 34 and protected thereby from weather, but will, nevertheless, be sufiiciently accessible so that the parking motorist can conveniently grip it and pull it outwardly for use. In the housed or inoperative position of the spring clip 44-, the handles 43 thereof will be engaged against stop pins 45 which are mounted in and extend transversely across the flared end of the goose-neck 34, substantially as shown in Figure 3. Under such conditions, furthermore, the bob 4% rests against the projecting portion 41 of the rocking arm 28, swinging it into the position shown in full lines in Figure 3 and thereby shifting the rod 24 upwardly, as shown, so that the pin 23 will move upwardly, contacting the tripping lever 13 and resetting the time mechanism 11 to zero. At the same time, the coin-slot gate 18 is shifted upwardly so that the slot 19 is aligned with the coin-slot 9. The parking meter A is conditioned for use by a motorist who may drive into the parking area controlled by such parking meter.

In parking, the motorist will drop a coin of proper denomination into the coin-slot 9, thereby unlocking the timing mechanism 11. Thereupon, the spring clip 44 can be manually attached to some suitable projection on the vehicle B, such as the rear vision mirror m, thus pulling the chain upwardly and outwardly so that the bob 4'1 is lifted and disengaged from the rocking arm 28. Thereupon, the rod 24, with its associated mechanism drops, under the force of gravity, withdrawing the pin 23 from engagement with the tripping lever 13 and shifting the coin-slot gate 18 downwardly so that the coinslot 9 is blocked thereby. The motorist can then turn the handle 15, swinging the indicating hand 12 over to the position corresponding to the full time period of parking and otherwise setting the time-controlled mechanism 11 in operation in the normal manner. Upon unparking, the motorist merely unclips the spring clip 44 allowing it to return to its initial or housed position. Thereupon, the bob 40 re-engages the rocking arm 28,

lifting the rod 24 and its associated mechanism to initial position. The actuating pin 23 re-engages the tripping lever 13 causing the timing mechanism 11 to be automatically reset to zero and the slot 19 of the coin-slot gate 13 is realigned with the coin-slot 9 so that the meter is again in condition to receive coins. If, in unparking, the motorist should forget to disengage the clip 44, the clip will pull free without damage as soon as the vehicle B begins to move, since it possesses suflicient tension to retain its grip as long as the vehicle B is stationary, but will not hold with sufiicient force to cause any damage when the vehicle B pulls away from the parking place.

The sleeve 31, together with the bands 33 and the associated parts thereof, can be very quickly added to most existing types of parking meters now in use by simply drilling the parking meter posts to form therein an aperture of the proper diameter to receive the extension-fitting 34 The housing and operating portions of the meter may be removed from the top of the parking meter post and the rod 24 dropped in from the top in such a manner as to connect with the rocking arm 28. Since parking meter posts are usually made of standard threeinch pipe, the bearing sleeve structure can be constructed for this type of pipe and will fit most posts currently in use. However, the standardization of the post does not present a difficult problem since most municipalities employ many hundreds of parking meters and if in any particular case the post is not of standard size it is relatively easy to supply a bearing sleeve structure of proper size to fit within the particular posts involved. Similarly, the actuating pin 23, cross-arm 22, and coinslot gate 18 may, if necessary, be modified in size and shape to fit any particular type of meter involved in a specific installation contract. The particular size and arrangement shown in the drawings is adaptable for most existing types of parking meters without dimensional change. Thus, it will be evident that parking meter controlling devices of the present invention can be very easily adapted for, and installed upon, existing types of parking meters so that complete replacement of existing equipment can be avoided.

It should be understood that changes and modifications in the form, construction, arrangement, and combination of the several parts of the parking meters may be made and substituted for those herein shown and described without departing from the nature and principle of my invention.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure by letters patent is:

1. In a parking meter including a hollow upright post supported at its lower end in the pavement and provided at its upper end with a housing containing a time-controlled indicator mechanism having coin-unlocked actu sting means and mechanically actuable resetting means, said housing further having a coin-slot through which coins may be deposited to unlock the actuating means; an automatic resetting actuator comprising a vertically shiftable member operatively mounted within said post and being provided at its upper end with a cross-arm, means carried by the cross-arm for engaging the resetting means, means also carried by the cross-arm for blocking the coin-slot, a rocking arm operatively associated with the vertically shiftable member for moving it up and down, and a flexible element provided at one end with a spring clip adapted for releasable engagement with the parked vehicle and being normally engaged at its other end with the rocking arm so as to move the vertically shiftable member upwardly when the clip is disengaged from the vehicle and to cause said member to move downwardly when the clip is engaged with the vehicle.

2. In a parking meter including a hollow upright post supported at its lower end in the pavement and provided at its upper end with a housing containing a time-controlled indicator mechanism having coin-unlocked actuating means and mechanically actuable resetting means, said housing further having a coin-slot through which coins may be deposited to unlock the actuating means; an automatic resetting actuator comprising a vertically shiftable member operatively mounted within said post and being provided at its upper end with a cross-arm having an upwardly projecting actuating pin which moves up and down with the vertically shiftable member and is adapted, when in upwardly shifted position, for engaging and actuating the resetting means, said vertically shiftable member also being provided with a coin-slot gate which moves up and down with the vertically shiftable member and, when in downwardly shifted position, will block the coinslot, said coin-slot gate being disposed in spaced parallel relation to the actuating pin, a rocking arm operatively associated with the vertically shiftable member for moving it up and down, and a flexible element provided at one end with a spring clip, adapted for releasable engagement With the parked vehicle and being normally engaged at its other end with the rocking arm so as to move the vertically shiftable member upwardly when the clip is disengaged from the vehicle and to cause said member to move downwardly when the clip is engaged with the vehicle.

3. In a parking meter including a hollow upright post supported at its lower end in the pavement and provided at its upper end with a housing containing a time-controlled indicator mechanism having coin-unlocked actuating means and mechanically actuable resetting means, said housing further having a coin-slot through which coins may be deposited to unlock the actuating means; an automatic resetting actuator comprising a vertically shiftable member operatively mounted within said post and being provided at its upper end with a cross-arm having an upwardly projecting actuating pin located for movement into either of two different positions responsive to movement of the rod, said member being adapted, when the rod is in upwardly shifted position, to engage and actuate the resetting means, a coin-slot gate also mounted on said member in spaced parallel relation to the actuating pin and being adapted for movement into one of two positions responsive to up and down movement of the rod, said coin-slot gate being positioned, when the rod is in downwardly shifted position, to block the coin-slot and thereby prevent the insertion of coins through the coinslot, an auxiliary sheath-like element located externally of the housing and having an outwardly presented opening, an elongated flexible element disposed within said sheathlike element and being lengthwise withdrawable therefrom, said flexible element, when disposed within the sheath-like element, being actuatingly connected to the vertically shiftable member to hold the latter in upwardly shifted position and conversely, when withdrawn from the sheath-like element, being adapted to release the vertically shiftable member and permit the latter to move into downwardly shifted position.

4. In a parking meter including a hollow upright post supported at its lower end in the pavement and provided at its upper end with a housing containing a time-controlled indicator mechanism having coin-unlocked actuating means and mechanically actuable resetting means, said housing further having a coin-slot through which coins may be deposited to unlock the actuating means; an automatic resetting actuator comprising a vertically shiftable member operatively mounted within said post and being provided at its upper end with a cross-arm having an actuating pin for engaging the resetting means, a coin-slot gate carried by the cross-arm and located for optionally blocking the coin slot when the cross-arm is in downwardly shifted position, an auxiliary housing operatively mounted on the post, a flexible retractile member normally disposed within said housing and being adapted for manual withdrawal partially therefrom, a rocking arm actuated by the flexible member when the latter is in fully retracted position within the housing for lifting the rod and thereby simultaneously causing the time-controlled indicator mechanism to return to zero and at the same time unblocking the coin-slot, and a spring clip attached to the external end of the flexible member for releasable engagement with a protruding portion of the vehicle whereby to hold the flexible member in withdrawn position, said flexible member being arranged, when in withdrawn position, to cause the rod to shift into lowered position whereby the coin-slot is blocked and the actuating pin is disengaged from the resetting means.

5. In a parking meter including a hollow upright post supported at its lower end in the pavement and provided at its upper end with a housing having a coin-slot and containing a time-controlled indicator mechanism having coin-unlocked timing means and mechanical resetting means adapted upon actuation to return the indicator mechanism to zero position; an automatic resetting actuator comprising a vertically shiftable rod operatively mounted within said post and being provided at its upper end with a cross-bar, an upwardly projecting pin mounted in the cross-bar for movement up and down with the vertically shiftable member and being adapted, when in upwardly shifted position, for engaging the resetting means and thereby returning the indicator means to zero position, a coin-slot gate also operatively mounted on and shiftably upwardly and downwardly with the cross-bar, said coinslot gate, when in downwardly shifted position, blocking the coin-slot gate whereby to prevent insertion of coins therethrough, a radial sleeve mounted in and projecting outwardly from the post and opening into the interior thereof, an auxiliary tubular housing mounted in outwardly spaced parallel relation to the post and engaged with the other end of the sleeve for communication therewith, a rocking arm pivotally mounted in and extending through the sleeve, said arm projecting at its opposite ends into the post and auxiliary housing respectively, said arm further being operatively connected with the vertically shiftable member, said auxiliary housing being provided at its upper end with an arcuately inverted goose-neck portion provided at its end with an open mouth, a pulley operatively mounted within the goose-neck, a flexible member threaded over the pulley and disposed within the housing, being therein provided at its lower end with a heavily weighted bob for engagement with one end of the rocking arm, and a rubber covered spring clip mounted on the other end of the flexible member for releasable engagement with a parked vehicle when pulled outwardly from the housing, said rod and its associated elements being disposed in downwardly shifted position when the spring clip is engaged with a parked vehicle whereby to permit the timing mechanism to operate normally and at the same time block the coin-slot, said bob being adapted, when the spring clip becomes disengaged from the vehicle, to drop downwardly within the auxiliary housing and engage the rocking arm whereby to shift the vertical member upwardly, actuating the resetting means and unblocking the coin-slot.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,069,445 Hopkins Feb. 2, 1937 2,168,302 McGay Aug. 1, 1939 2,229,183 Mitchell Jan. 21, 1941 2,284,221 McGay May 26, 1942 2,553,260 Kifer May 15, 1951 

